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Get the Facts
Making food choices at the grocery store is hard. Food packages have so much information! Focus on the facts to decide what to buy, each time you shop. Make a shopping list to Include more whole, one-ingredient foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, eggs, and beans. These healthy choices will save you time at the store - no label reading needed!
Ingredients List
- Look for names of foods you know. A short list of ingredients is often the healthiest choice.
- Check the order of ingredients on the list. The ingredients that weigh the most are listed first.
- Make whole grains your first choice for bread, cereal, pasta, rice, and tortillas. Look for the word whole at the beginning of the ingredients list. It will be listed before the name of the grain whole oats, whole corn, whole wheat.
- Limit foods that have added sugars on the ingredients list. Words that end in -ose like dextrose, fructose, galactose, glucose, lactose, maltose, sucrose are all types of sugar. Many processed foods have more than one type of sugar added.
Sample ingredients list
Ingredients: Whole Wheat Flour, Water, Yeast, Brown Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Contains 2% Or Less Of Each Of The Following: Salt, Monoglycerides, Enzymes, Ascorbic Acid, Soybean Oil, Vinegar, Cultured Wheat Flour, Monocalcium Phosphate, Soy Lecithin.
Nutrition Facts Label
- Check the number of servings per container. One package of food may have more than one serving.
- Note the serving size. The nutrition facts listed are for one single serving, the amount usually eaten at one time.
- Calories add up. The total number of calories listed on the label is for a single serving. Balance calories you eat and drink with calories you use through daily activity, to maintain a healthy body weight. To learn more visit https://www.myplate.gov/myplate-plan
- Look for foods with less fat, added sugar, and salt. Less than 5% daily value (DV) is considered low.
- Look for foods with more fiber, calcium, vitamin D, iron, and potassium. 20% or more daily value (DV) is considered high.
Smart Tips
- PLAN - Practice reading food package labels at home, before grocery shopping. Read the ingredients list and the nutrition facts label to know which foods to choose more often and which foods to choose less often. Make a shopping list and stick to it.
- SHOP - Read each food package before you buy a new product. Foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, and plain oats, rice, or beans only have one ingredient - no label reading needed!
- EAT - Enjoy a variety of foods each day. Include fruits and vegetables in each meal and snack. Eat more whole grains. Choose low-fat dairy foods like milk, cheese, and yogurt. Eat less packaged snacks - read before you eat!